Kuelap is an ancient fortress built by the Chachapoyas culture and is located approximately 10,000 feet above sea level on the slope of the Andes in northern Peru. Now this citadel full of ruins and stone walls is the reminder of the Chachapoyas, also known as “Warriors of the Cloud”.

If you think Machu Picchu is the most impressive archaeological site in Peru, you may change your mind after reading this. Kuelap was built around the sixth century A.D to be home of the Chachapoyas, a Pre-Incan culture living in the cloud forests of what is today the Amazonas Region of Peru. Even it is popularly thought as a fortress, it would perhaps be more fitting to call it a walled city because Kuelap not only contained military buildings, but also civil, religious and domestic ones.

The legacy of the Chachapoyas also includes another archaeological site called Karajia, where the funeral tombs of the “ancient wise men” are located. Perched high on a ledge by the side of a cliff, the six sarcophagi stands. Thanks to their inaccessible location, the mummies are still preserved from destruction by looters. Each sarcophagus is 2.5 meters tall and has the shape of limbless torso with large head and enormous jaw line. So mysterious!